The crack was deafening. From within the mass of metal compressed by Eron, a voice echoed with the strength of an ancient age: "SHAZAM!"
The mystical lightning that descended from the sky was not blue like Eron's, but an incandescent gold that ignored the laws of physics. The metal sphere exploded into a thousand pieces, transformed into glowing shrapnel that streaked across the Los Angeles sky. The shockwave threw Eron back, but he used magnetism to stabilize himself in the air, his eyes fixed on the red silhouette now glowing with an aura of divine fury.
— You won't trap me! — roared Shazam, advancing like a meteor.
Eron did not back down. On the contrary, the desire for possession shone stronger than the electricity in his body. He wanted that strength. He wanted whatever sustained that mortal.
— I've already toppled the God of War, kid! — Eron shouted, launching himself at the hero. — What is a wizard compared to a conqueror?
The two collided again in mid-air, but this time Eron did not punch. He grabbed Shazam's arms, the black-and-blue ring glowing as he created a magnetic vacuum that sealed the two of them in a bubble of energy. Eron began to drain. He felt the magic flowing—a vast and complex energy coming from six different sources.
In the Rock of Eternity, the Wizard Shazam felt the intrusion. His old hands trembled over his staff as he realized that someone was not just fighting his champion, but devouring the essence of the granted power.
— A thief of divinity... — the Wizard whispered. — Billy, get out of there!
The Wizard struck his staff against the stone floor, initiating a forced dimensional transport to save the boy before Eron could consume everything. Shazam's body began to turn ethereal, dissolving into golden smoke.
But Eron was too fast. He felt the connection to the Strength of Hercules—the pillar that gave Shazam his incomparable physical power. With a roar of effort, Eron "bit" into that part of the magic, driving his magnetic will into the essence of brute strength before the transport could be completed.
A crack of torn reality echoed. Shazam vanished in a flash of light, but a trail of yellow energy remained trapped in Eron's hands.
Eron fell to his knees on the asphalt, his body trembling as the Strength of Hercules fused with his already divine muscles. He felt his weight increase, his density shift. Ares' power was the fury of the fight, but Hercules' strength was the capacity to lift the world itself.
Diana landed softly beside him, her Aphrodite aura glowing with predatory satisfaction. She touched Eron's shoulder and felt the new power emanating from him.
— He fled — she said, looking at the empty sky.
— He left a parting gift — Eron replied, standing up. He clenched his fist, and the asphalt beneath his feet simply gave way—not by magnetism, but by the simple weight of his presence. — I feel the bones of Hercules now. I am no longer just a god, Diana. I am strength itself.
He looked at his hand, where the ring now glowed with a mixture of blue, black, and a faint tint of gold.